Friedrich Wilhelm Von Steuben - Legacy

Legacy

Generally, Von Steuben Day takes place in September in many cities throughout the United States. It is an often considered the German-American event of the year. Participants march, dance, wear German costumes and play German music, and the event is attended by millions of people. The German-American Steuben Parade is held annually in September in New York City. It is one of the largest parades in the city and is traditionally followed by an Oktoberfest in Central Park as well as celebrations in Yorkville, Manhattan, a German section of New York City. The German-American Steuben Parade has been taking place since 1958. Chicago also hosts a von Steuben Day parade, which is featured in the American movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Philadelphia hosts to a smaller Steuben Parade in the Northeast of the city.

The Steuben Society was founded in 1919 as "an educational, fraternal, and patriotic organization of American citizens of German background". In the difficult post-World War I years the Society helped the German-American community to reorganize. It is now one of the largest organizations for Americans of German extraction.

A warship, a submarine, and an ocean liner (later pressed into military service) were named in von Steuben's honor. In World War I the captured German ship SS Kronprinz Wilhelm was renamed as USS Von Steuben, and in World War II there was the Dampfschiff General von Steuben, an ill-fated German luxury passenger ship which was turned into an armed transport ship during the war. During the Cold War, the US Navy submarine USS Von Steuben was named for him.

Several locations in the United States are also named Steuben, most of them in his honor. Examples include Steuben County, New York, Steuben County, Indiana, and the city of Steubenville, Ohio. Several buildings are named for Steuben, among them Von Steuben Metropolitan Science Center in Chicago, Illinois, as well as one of the cadet barracks buildings at Valley Forge Military Academy and College.

Von Steuben is one of four European military leaders who assisted the American cause during the Revolution honored with a statue in Lafayette Square just north of the White House in Washington, D.C.. Other statues of Steuben can be found in Utica, New York, the garden of the German Embassy in Washington, D.C., as well as in Potsdam and in Steuben's home town of Magdeburg. Another Steuben Monument stands in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In Berlin, Germany, one stands near the Allied Museum on Clayallee in the former American sector of the divided city.

The Steuben House presented to Steuben as a gift for his services in the Continental Army is located at New Bridge Landing in River Edge, New Jersey. The house and surrounding farmland were seized in 1781 from a Loyalist family. The house looks much as it did after Steuben renovated it. The State of New Jersey took possession of the historic mansion and one acre of ground for $9,000 on June 27, 1928. It was opened as a public museum in September 1939. The Bergen County Historical Society opens the building for special events. It is under the jurisdiction of the Historic New Bridge Landing Park Commission.

Other tributes include Steuben Field, the stadium of the Hamilton College football team. Von Steuben, acting as Alexander Hamilton's surrogate, laid the cornerstone of the school. Upon graduating, all Hamilton seniors receive as a gift from the college a cane with a tricorn hat at its top in reference to von Steuben.

The various depictions of Steuben in popular (American) media include portrayals by Nehemiah Persoff in the 1979 U.S. TV Miniseries The Rebels, Kurt Knudson in the 1984 TV miniseries George Washington, and being voiced by Austrian-American Arnold Schwarzenegger in the animated series Liberty's Kids.

There are many books on von Steuben. Most recently, Paul Lockhart, a professor at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, wrote "The Drillmaster of Valley Forge" as the first comprehensive biography of General von Steuben in more than 80 years. Von Steuben has also been cited in other works, including being referenced somewhat controversially by Randy Shilts in his book Conduct Unbecoming as an early example of homosexuals in the military.

In 2007, a popular documentary DVD was released by LionHeart FilmWorks and Director Kevin Hershberger titled "Von Steuben's Continentals: The First American Army." The 60-minute, live-action documentary details the life, uniforms, camp life, food, weapons, equipment and drill of the Continental Soldier 1775-1781, as taught and developed by Baron von Steuben.